Fillers are particles added to material (
plastics,
composite material,
concrete) to lower the consumption of more expensive
binder material or to better some properties of the mixtured material. Worldwide more than 53 million tons of fillers with a total sum of approximately EUR16 billion are used every year in different application areas, such as paper, plastics, rubber, paints, coatings, adhesives and sealants. As such, fillers, produced by more than 700 companies, rank among the world's major raw materials and are contained in a variety of goods for daily consumer needs.